How WearOS may become an annual update for wearables
The first Android 9-based WearOS 2.2 was launched in 2018. After that, Google introduced the Android 11-based WearOS 3 in 2021 with the Galaxy Watch 4 series. In 2022, the company launched its first-ever smartwatch which introduced Wear OS 3.5.
This version came with Fitbit support and a reworked Google Assistant experience. Last year, the Galaxy Watch 6 arrived with the Android 13-based Wear OS 4. The latest version brought backup capabilities, and a few other improvements to supported watches. If Google rolls out the Android 14-based WearOS 5 this year, this will make WearOS updates an annual thing. Previous generations of WearOS also skipped Android versions and the company is reportedly planning to give wearables an annual update cycle just like smartphones.
On the other hand, Google is now building its Android TV platform on a yearly schedule. The company released an initial Android TV 14 Beta version in 2023.For comparison, Google’s Chromecast with Google TV lineup is still running Android 12.
The report also notes that Google has been gradually phasing out capabilities of Wear OS 2. Over the recent months, older watches started losing access to Google Assistant and the Google News Tile. This is expected to help push users toward buying a more modern smartwatch. It will allow app developers to focus on supporting the latest versions of Wear OS and building out an app ecosystem.
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